The name of this video store is
Make Your Own Tapes by
its very name, implying illegal activity,
but video piracy is a crime
that is rarely prosecuted.
So through the civil courts, local
attorneys are obtaining court orders to
seize illegal tapes.
Several Dallas Fort Worth stores have
been raided. US marshals seized
over 500 tapes last week.
And make your own tapes.
These are not copies of
just this
one is not a copy.
Now, it looks like a Xerox cover
to cover, but the tape is not.
The tape is authentic.
But at the front of the store were two
shelves full of tapes with homemade
labels on them, a sign advertise them
as being on sale, two for twenty five
dollars. The manager says he sees nothing
wrong with duplicating.
I mean, people doing it at home all day,
all the time.
So authorities say the harm to you,
the consumer is bootleg videos aren't
half the quality of videos you'll find in
a reputable store like this one.
Nevertheless, you'll usually pay the
same price for them.
Authorities also point out another cost
if big studios are cheated out of their
video rental money.
What that is going to translate into
a long term basis is
less money for production, higher
prices at the cinema and
less choice to the consumer in the motion
pictures that are produced for them to
view.
So how do you spot a video piracy
operation? Well, authorities say if a
store never seems to run out of movies
that are in the most demand, chances
are someone's in a back room churning out
copies with a VCR.
Sherri Wood, Texas News 5
unexpected.
Little by.